Dell, Icahn Go Behind Closed Doors

In a terse press release this morning, Carl Icahn's Icahn Enterprises L.P. (NASDAQ: IEP) said that it has entered a confidentiality agreement with Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and "looks forward to commencing its review of Dell's confidential information." The company really had no other choice because part of the deal with the founder and his partners called for a "go-shop" period.

For those of you not following along at home, Icahn reportedly has amassed a stake of about 6% in Dell, and wants to stop what he sees as the $24 billion giveaway of the company to founder Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners. Icahn has said the company should pay a special dividend of $9 a share, which values Dell's stock at around $23 a share, nearly $10 a share higher than the offer from Michael Dell and Silver Lake.

Icahn is not alone in his beef with Dell. Shareholders with nearly 15% of the company's stock have already said that they either lean toward voting against or will vote against Michael Dell's attempt to take the company private.

Dell's shares are up about 1% in premarket trading this morning at $14.30 in a 52-week range of $8.69 to $17.46.